TCM
TiVo ALERT
For
September
8–September 14
DAVID’S
BEST BETS:
THE
STRANGER (September 9, 8:00 pm): This film shows why
Orson Welles was one of the most important and influential actors and
directors of the 1940s. This 1946 film noir has one of the finest
pairings in cinema history: Welles and Edward G. Robinson, though
Welles didn't cast the actors and wanted Agnes Moorehead to play
Eddie G's role. Welles is a Nazi who has effectively erased his past
and is living comfortably as a small-town private-school teacher,
married to Loretta Young. As a Nazi hunter, Eddie G. figures out
Welles' past, but has no actual evidence. He must convince Young of
her husband's past, which isn't easy. It's a hard-hitting film with
great suspense and incredible performances from the actors. Only five
years after Citizen Kane, Welles was already considered a
huge headache to Hollywood. But to his credit, Welles is
exceptionally focused on not only his on-screen work, but what he
does behind the camera in this film.
JUDGMENT
AT NUREMBERG (September 9, 2:00 am): A
large ensemble cast of brilliant actors - Spencer Tracy, Burt
Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Richard Widmark and Maximilian Schell -
and memorable small roles played by Judy Garland and Marlene Dietrich
make this drama one of the most riveting films made. It also makes
you question the responsibility of people who commit atrocities or do
nothing to stop them. The movie is a post-World War II military
tribunal in which three American judges (Tracy as the chief judge in
an extraordinary role) are hearing the cases of four former German
judges (Lancaster is the main ex-jurist) accused of committing war
atrocities for passing death sentences on people during the Nazi
regime. The film is horrifying, hard-hitting, and pulls no punches,
including showing real footage of piles of dead bodies
found by American soldiers at the end of the war. You have to decide
for yourself if being German during the regime of Adolf Hitler is a
war crime.
ED’S
BEST BETS:
RED
HEADED WOMAN (September 12, 6:30 pm): Watching Jean
Harlow in Hell’s Angels (1930) and The
Public Enemy (1932), one thing sticks out like a glass jaw:
the woman can’t act. But she goes to MGM, and a year later she is
completely mesmerizing in this story of a gold digger who busts up
her boss’s marriage, and that’s for starters. Harlow shows a real
flair for comedy and lighter roles, which is perfect for the film.
She also had the perfect writer in Anita Loos, who took what was a
turgid soap opera by original writer F. Scott Fitzgerald and turned
in into a completely tongue-in-cheek, saucy comedy. Had Harlow played
the original script, the film would have sunk like a lead balloon.
Instead she readily adapted to Loos’ scenario and took it from
there. Its one of my favorites from the Pre-Code era and that is
entirely due to Harlow. The care taken to develop Harlow is why MGM
stood out from the other studios.
THE
OLD MAID (September 14, 8:00 pm): Bette Davis and
Miriam Hopkins are at it again in this lush and glossy soap opera
from Warner Brothers. Bette and Miriam are cousins Charlotte and
Delia during the Civil War, and both are head over heels for Clem
(George Brent). But it’s Bette whom Clem gets preggers. He enlists
in the Union Army and is conveniently killed on the battlefield.
Years later, Bette is running a home of war orphans, including her
love child by Clem, who she keeps secret until she plans to marry Joe
Ralston (Jerome Cowan), and confesses all to Delia, who married Joe’s
brother, Jim (James Stephenson) on the rebound. Bad move. We’ll
stop here, but suffice to say the suds really begin to flow as the
movie progresses. Directed by Edmund Goulding, who had a flair for
this type of film, The Old Maid is Grade-A
entertainment, thanks to the efforts of Davis and Hopkins, who
absolutely loathed each other in real life.
WE
DISAGREE ON ... DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (September 12, 12:45 am)
ED:
A. Of all the versions made of Robert Louis
Stevenson’s classic over the years, this is my favorite. This is
the film that established Frederic March as a serious actor and he is
superb in it, as is Miriam Hopkins as Ivy. Director Rouben Mamoulian
teamed with cinematographer Karl Struss to make full use of the
camera not just as a recorder, which had been the case with sound
films of the era, but also as an active participant in the framing
and movement of the film. Note the use of wipes and fades to move
from scene to scene and first-person perspective to heighten our
viewing experience. Even transitional shots and effects are used to
intensify our attention. The lengthy dissolves linger beautifully
into superimposed imagery, for example, the image of Ivy’s legs
superimposed over the scene of Jekyll and Dr. Lanyon’s
conversation. Mamoulian makes full use of camera positioning for some
extraordinary shots. Watch also for the scene where Hyde appears to
be breaking the fourth wall – looking through the camera
and into the next room. Returning to the performances let me
note that March won the Best Actor Oscar (which he shared with
Wallace Beery for The Champ). This would be the only
acting award granted for a horror film until Anthony Hopkins won
for The Silence of the Lambs. March gives a nuanced
performance, carefully straddling the line between the repressed
Jekyll and the libidinous Hyde without going overboard into the
ecstasies of overacting. Hopkins dazzles as Ivy: after Jekyll drives
off a man who tried to attack her and takes her back to her flat, her
attempt at seducing Jekyll is exquisitely done, and tragic, as Jekyll
resists, but Hyde, the beast within Jekyll, remembers. Although I
also love MGM’s 1941 remake with Spencer Tracy as Jekyll/Hyde and
Ingrid Bergman as Ivy, it’s the 1931 version that triumphs due to
Mamoulian.
DAVID:
B-. This is a good film with solid performances by
Frederic March in the title role and Miriam Hopkins as Ivy, a sexy
and sexual bar singer who catches the eye of Dr. Jekyll. Also, the
camera work and makeup that shows Jekyll's transformation to Mr. Hyde
is impressive for a 1931 film. The main issue I have with the film is
I'm just not a fan of the story. That makes enjoying a movie version
of the film – and there have been a lot of them –
challenging. This film isn't as true to the Robert Louis Stevenson
book as other versions though it is among the better ones.
Interestingly enough, I prefer the 1941 movie, which stars Spencer
Tracy and Ingrid Bergman (who is absolutely delicious in the
"bad-girl" role). That version is almost a scene-by-scene
remake of the 1931 film, minus some of the Pre-Code sexual innuendo.
The differences are the 1941 film stars actors I consider stronger
than March and Hopkins, and better special effects because of the
advancement of the technology over those 10 years. I wouldn't
discourage anyone from watching the 1931 version, and recommend it to
those who are fans of the genre. However, Ed's enjoyment of this
version of the film is significantly greater than mine.
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